, 1887-08-06

Az Was " bu6 rue UtGI0So Ia bUGn461C-
holders and the stability and future prospe.
rity and increase Of the Company that they
should, in a good year like this. make out
of our larger profits a larger addition than
usual to our reserve funds4@applause) i The
money is not lost or spent; it is invested and
reserved, and is still yours; and probably
the directors would invest it for you as we'll
as you could do for yourselves 90 as some of
us might perhaps besfsmptad to spend and
get rid of it altogether8Rnd for ever,s so that
hope you viii considarM safer with US
(applause). It is,ainefact,g equalto an ad.
dition of 50 los on eaehshare" Our business
is increasing. | believed may say we are IN
the front rank of insurance companies, and
we must show the public that we are deter
mined to be A /, and SO build up, like other
similar frst-class companies, a reserve fund
sufficient for all emergencies; and SO long
as you, the shareholders, secure q good dlvl.
dend, you will, / am convinced, approve OF
our neutrality-suspicious.. I have really
nothing more to say. I shall be happy to
hear any remarks, and to answer any ques-
tions. I wish to say, qbefore sitting down.
that / have been asked q question as to the
real value of the Investments of the Company
over and above the amount at which they
stand in our books You are aware that we
take no credit fQT, advance ii. TIE market
value of our Investments, nor tor atty profits
that have not been actually realised by sale
of the securities, aadzLdaresay you know
also that the Investments have been made
with the utmost care and discrimination.
You will therefore be- quitefprepared to hear
that the present value OF your various pro-
perties largely exceeds the figure at which
it stands in your accounts, the excess being,
/ believe-and the general manager of the
sN~~o~m-, 1900 o~ouo~oo 49, La-o - lov
will correct me if I am over. sanguine-not
less than 9100, 000.I has also been asked Of
me how our business. stands for the current
year as far as gone. Considering our wide
ramiication all over the world you can hard
ly expect me to say much on this subject
with more than half the, year to run, but I
may Assure you that our accounts up to this
date are looking quite as well, as they did at
the corresponding period fOf, 1886. / beg
formally to move the adoption of the report
and the accounts now laid on the table-(ap-
plause(. 49, - IL
Mr.. Ogston OF Norwood; said-I rise with
great pleasure to second the adoption of the
report, and after the Ihinute'and clear state
ment made by the chairman, there is very
little for me to say. | ain sure we have
every reason to be pleased indeed at having
such a good report of the'company's pros
D9rlGY presented I'd US bC"u6ys ALL0OuSQ cOm-
mercial undertakings generally are still in
the midst of great depression with, / am af-
raid, little prospect in the meantime of i'm
provement, I think we may congratulate
ourselves that it is the reverse with Insur-
ance Companies, as they seem now to be all
in good circumstances A few years ago
Insurance Companies were, from the share
holders point Of view, in anything but e
satisfactory condition; however the tide
seems now to have sturneG. At that time
they were making heavy losses, and the di.
rectors of this. ana other Companies raised
the premiumlsn, and Instituted as much more
cautious policy 1MAftif Is qfo~saae somewhat
difficult mattettto succeedR getting certain
classes of risks covered at reasonable premi-
ums. However, there is sometimes q dan
ger in being over cautious and trust our
directors will remember not to continue these
increased charges when proved to be need
lessly high. Gentlemen, this is the first
year of the Company's second half century,
and I think we may look forward with conh
dence to a still more rapid increase in our
business in the second half than in the first.
On looking back to the past history of the
Company I observe that the Company was SO
years old before It's accumulated fund reach
ed 81, 600, 600 Sterling ]. IN the following 7
years it rose ,tqp $4,000, 600, land 10 years la
ter it reached ttffheFsver5f!large rssnm of So, 800,
600; this, T am ssaaffe,, ID ugarsiwell for the fu-
ture. But. Conference.-The ehiefpoint looked